blessed with the best

Family has always been a key point in my life.  I thank the Lord for blessing me with such amazing people that I call family, whether we're blood related or not.  This past week I have noticed how truly blessed I am to have such generous, kind, and loving people in my life. 

On Tuesday, the amazing management team at my work set up a surprise potluck for me.  During this potluck they presented me with multiple gift cards that were for very generous amounts that the entire Panorama staff had all put in for.  As cheesy as this sounds- I opened the cards, saw the amounts, and lost it in front of my entire Panorama team.  I know I work with amazing people who are kind but I was so surprised that they all so willing provided me with such an incredible gift.  I especially am thankful for our management staff as I know they are the ones who coordinated everything for me.

When Sage & I met one thing that made me love him even more was his family.  The beauty of the Polynesian community here in Las Vegas is that everyone is like your family, whether you are blood related or not.  Many of the people that Sage's family have introduced me to are like our family, without question.  Yesterday, our Las Vegas family threw us a little baby shower.  It was so nice of them all to take time out of their busy schedules to provide our little family with such a surprise.  Though my family all reside in Salt Lake, I'm beyond grateful for my Las Vegas family who take such great care of my little family and always support us through our journey. 

The Batoon family graciously opened their home to us and threw us an amazing shower.  Everything was perfect!  From the décor, the food, and the games... It was all more than I could have asked for.  My amazing mother-in-law of course helped with many things as well.  I admire Karly and Heavenly so much.  They're such amazing mothers and are always lending a helping hand in everything. 

With the help of all of the amazing people in our lives, we have been given everything we need for our little Tai to make her debut... when's she's ready of course.  I look forward to showing her all of the amazing people we have been blessed with!

"There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family."

one month

Tai's due date is exactly one month away as of today.  Seriously?  This pregnancy has come & gone but I'm noticing that as I become more uncomfortable, the days are passing a little bit more slowly. 

Sage & I still have a lot we need to do & buy.  I didn't realize how much we needed until I made a complete list & let me tell you, it's a long one!  We've got to get our heads on straight & get things moving because Tai will be here before we know it. 

For the past three days now I've been experiencing strong Braxton Hicks to really strong cramping.  Some are so strong that they take my breath away or cause me to freeze up due to the pain.  I never experienced any of this with Anelia, no pain at all until I was in labor.  I'm not going to get my hopes up & say that Tai will be here early but chances are looking more & more likely with each day of contractions.  They haven't been consistent but on Sunday night they were.  For nearly two hours they kept coming & were 5 minutes apart.  Sage was at work & Tai would have been too early so I relaxed, drank lots of water & laid on the my side & things slowly went away, thank goodness.  However, if something like that should happen after my 37th week, I'll definitely try to keep the ball rolling.

As much as I'd love to have Tai be here now, we aren't ready.  Her room isn't ready, furniture isn't where it needs to be, I haven't even got one pack of diapers... yeah, it's THAT bad.  Don't judge.  The list honestly goes on & on.  My "nesting" stage has disappeared but last night I tried to get things together & started washing all of Tai's stuff & setting up her room.  I'm hoping to be very productive these next four weeks so that everything is in place and order when she arrives. 

Aside from the madness of getting things together I am extremely excited for our little baby to make her debut.  I've wanted this for so long & can't wait for Anelia to experience the joys of having a sibling.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  My main concern and making sure I continue to show Anelia that she is loved & spend equal time tending to each of my girls' needs.  I know it won't come easy & I know that I'll have my days full of tears & breakdowns... not only from Anelia if you catch my drift.  I'm confident in myself and Sage.  We're a great team and with plenty of prayers and patience, we'll catch onto having two beautiful girls eventually. 

So, let the countdown begin. xo!

home is where the heart is

Our trip back home to Salt Lake was amazing!  It was so nice to be able to see all of our loved ones and my best friends.  Our trip wasn't too eventful, we didn't do anything extremely exciting.  We spent a lot of our time at my sister's relaxing or eating which was absolutely perfect in my book. 

Our first day there we woke up to my nephew Toa in our room.  When Anelia saw him she jumped out of bed and they hugged right away.  It was so precious!  For the most part, Anelia and Toa got along great and spent most of their days playing.  They were two peas in a pod.  On our drive back to Vegas she kept asking for "Toaf." (She calls him Toaf like Olaf from Frozen.) It was a little heart breaking.  It didn't help that she kept asking for him all day yesterday as well.  I know she really enjoyed having all of her cousins around, she doesn't have that here in Vegas.  Thankfully, our Tai will be making her debut & she'll eventually take on the role of Ane's little playmate. 

We ate Kneaders for brunch with my sister Lota and it was delicious, as usual.  May I just add that we are so lucky to always have my sister & her family as our hosts.  They always go above and beyond in making us feel at home.  I can't say enough how thankful I am for them.  Our visits would not be as awesome as they are if it wasn't for them.

Later that evening we had an early dinner with my family at Chuck-a-Rama.  I forgot how much I love Chuck-a-Rama.  I had their mashed potatoes and gravy with lots and lots of rolls but the highlight was their scones with honey butter.  They're seriously to. die. for.  After dinner we made our way back to my sister's with our entire family.  It's always madness with all 10 of the grandkids together but I love it.  It's something that Anelia doesn't get to experience often so I'm all for the chaos as long as they're all having fun.

Wednesday was spent relaxing and getting ready for one of my best friends, Rio's wedding.  This wedding was the main reason that we had made the trip out.  I've known Rio since I was 12 and I could not imagine missing her big day.  Everything turned out beautifully and the wedding was a hit.  It was awesome to see how truly happy Rio is with her husband, Anthony.  They had their wedding at Wheeler Farm which Ane loved.  We took time to walk her around to see all of the animals and she was in complete awe.  We don't see farm animals at all here in Vegas and it was her first time seeing horses and cows up close.  She even got to feed one of the horses, which was priceless.  Luckily, Sage's sister captured that moment.

On Thursday, we spent our day relaxing.  The wedding had taken a lot of my energy & I was so sleepy all day.  However, our day wasn't completely unproductive.  We spent our afternoon outside playing with the kids. 

Funny story time... Sage was playing soccer with my two nieces, Taira & Taleya.  Before I go on, may I just add that I loved watching him & the girls?  He's such a great uncle and he loves my monkeys just as much as I do.  I especially loved seeing him play with them because one day that'll be him with our two girls.  Teaching & playing sports with them, I look forward to experiencing that.  Anyways, back to the story.  Sage was playing around and kicked the ball behind him as my niece Taleya was chasing him.  Well, the ball flew up & knocked Taleya square in the face... It was actually extremely hilarious but she, of course, didn't have the same reaction to this hit as we did.  She immediately broke down in tears & Sage hurried to give her a hug & make sure she was okay.  As many of you know, Taleya has had a "crush" on Sage since the day she met him.  So while he hugged her, she hugged him tightly back & I'm sure she was in heaven lol! 

After their little soccer game, Sage & I loaded all of the kids up in our car & took them to a near by zip line park.  One of the many reasons I love Daybreak (the community my sister lives in) is because there's so much to do with family!  At the park there was so much to do and see.  Most of our time was spent having boat races at a little creek.  Ane didn't participate in the races but she did enjoy placing piles & piles of sand on top of her head, lovely!  That night we all had family dinner at my family's favorite Chinese restaurant, Chin Wah.  We've been going to this place since I was 5 & it's always been extremely delicious!  You can never go wrong with Chin Wah.  Seriously.  If you're reading this & you're in Salt Lake please look it up right now & go.  You won't regret it!

Friday was here before we knew it & there was a dark cloud over Sage & I.  We really were not looking forward to leaving.  It was extremely hard to say goodbye to my family.  Especially because with me having a new baby, I'm not sure when I'll be able to make another trip out to Utah to see them.  All in all, our trip was amazing & I look forward to returning to my hometown with my family of FOUR!

pointing out all of the animals

 

seeing the horses was her favorite part & I don't blame her,

they were beautiful!

my loves

 

isn't she lovely?  my little model

the first photo of all 3 & 1/2 of us

she's such a daddy's girl, love!

moooo!

i felt like the biggest cow of my life with all of my gorgeous best friends.

they're all such beauts & then there was me...

the large, tall & round one haha!

duck lip selfieee

 

the end, xo.

hakuna matata

It means no worries... We had our ultrasound on Thursday and were thrilled to find out that Tai is growing just fine.  It was such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders knowing she's okay.  She's actually more than okay.  They found during the ultrasound that she was weighing in at 5 lbs. 3 oz. which is 1 week AHEAD of schedule.  I love it. 

As previously mentioned, I knew in my heart that everything was fine but it was amazing to get that final confirmation.

I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow before our trip to Utah.  Being the extreme worry wart that I am, I'm so scared my doctor is going to say that I'm dilated (tmi? eh, who cares!) & that I can't go.  But I'm going to push those negative thoughts to the very far back of my head & pretend I never thought of them in the first place...wooosaaahh.

Anyways, I'm extremely excited to go home.  It's been nearly a year since I've been back.  I'm not too fond of the thought of driving for 6 hours but we'll survive.  Poor Sage, he has to do all the driving.  I promise to drive everywhere once we arrive in Salt Lake though so we can make things a little even.

I can't wait to do the following...

1. To see my family & spend a lot of much needed quality time with them. 
2. To see my best friends.  I have been lucky enough to have the same group of best friends as long as 12 years now.  Some ranging as far back as sixth grade and others in my sophomore year of high school.  Regardless, these girls are like my sisters & I'm so thrilled that we'll all be together again.
3. To attend my best friend's wedding.  Rio has always been the one that we all said probably would be the last to get married, sounds blunt but if you ask her, she'd say the same.  Little did we know her prince Anthony, would make her the 4th one to become a Mrs of our group of friends.  I'm so happy for her!
4. To be in South Jordan again.  I love the city where I'm from & I enjoy taking a trip down memory lane each time I'm there.
5. To eat everything that Vegas doesn't have.  Kneaders, Chick-fil-A, Chuck-a-rama & their amazing scones... I could keep going but I'll refrain from doing so because I'm starting to drool.

Well, I'm looking forward to getting off of work & heading home to finish off my large list of "to do's" & getting this show on the road!

xo, Ang

God is good

We weren't able to schedule our ultrasound for Tai until Thursday, August 7th.  These past few days have been going by extremely slow.  I'm so paranoid now when it comes to her.  I panic when I noticed that she isn't as active or I google certain symptoms to make sure things are okay, which at times back fires.  I've been praying more lately asking Heavenly Father for comfort & ease my stress.  With many prayers said, I know in my heart that everything is just fine with our Tai.

Yesterday I had a very neat & touching experience.  Anelia & I ran to Target to get some things for Sage's surprise for our two year anniversary, which is tomorrow.  After doing so, I turned on the car, loaded Anelia in & then began loading my items.  While loading my bags into the car I noticed an elderly lady walking out of the store.  She had a severe hunched back, to the point where her shoulders were at about a 45 degree angle from her hips.  She was carrying a large open bag of popcorn & a small cup of hot coffee.  With each step she took her popcorn and coffee would spill, some of the coffee had even spilled on her.  When I noticed her, she was walking near two other females who I thought were with her & waited to see if they were going to help her.  They both continued right passed her.  As soon as I realized they weren't going to help I rushed to her side and offered to hold her things until she got to her car.  She tilted her head up & I'll never forget how relieved her face looked, she responded by saying "Yes please, thank you!"  After she sat comfortably in the drivers seat she asked "Can I share something with you?"  I then noticed tears streaming from her eyes and said "of course..."  She said "Less than 5 minutes ago I saw a little girl in there. God told me to do something nice for her so I gave her $5. Then as I was walking out here I was thinking how much I needed help & then, just like that, God sent you! See how fast God works?"  I was so pleased to hear that this sweet elderly lady believed God had sent me to help her.  Although I didn't do much, I'm thankful that I was there to assist her in her time of need.  Growing up we were always taught to help those in need, especially our elders.  I don't feel that I did anything special, I just did what I knew was right to do.

With my mind being stressed over the wellbeing of my unborn child I'm thankful that our Heavenly Father brought that little elderly lady across my path.  She brightened my day & eased my mind to know that He is thinking of me & knows my struggle.  I may have helped that elderly lady but she helped me also.  I needed something to make me happier and think positively & she did just that.  I know that our Father in Heaven is mindful of each & every struggle we go through & that he places people in our lives to help lift us when we need it the most.   

Happy Sunday, xo!